Wire-fence lock



No.'6ll,362. Patentd Sept. 27, I898.

L. W. GREENE.

WIRE FENCE LOCK.

(Application-filed Nov. 18, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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PATENT WIRE-FENCE LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,362, dated September 27, 1898.

Application filed November 18, 1897. Serial No. 659,036. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEON WV. GREENE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Wire- Fence Look, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wire fences, and particularly to a lock for connecting fence runners and stays at their points of intersection to prevent relative displacement thereof; and the object in View is to provide a simple,

. inexpensive, and efficient securing device adapted to be struck from sheet metal in a single operation and thereby prepared for application to the intersections of the members of a wire fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide an armed lock, the number of the arms being double that of the intersecting members of the fabric, wherein the engagement of each arm with the wire member may beaccomplished by a single operation of a pair of-pliers or equivalent wire-working tool.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a portion of a fence-panel having the runners and stay connected at'their points of intersection by a lock constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail View in perspective of the lock and the contiguous portions of the intersecting members engaged thereby. Fig. 3 is a rear View of the'same. Fig. 4: is a plan view of the blank. Fig. 5 is a detail View in perspective of the lock detached from the fence members, its clasps being shown closed to illustrate the opposite rolling thereof, and hence the reinforcement of one clasp by the other, which engages the same fence member.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In the drawings I have illustrated the lock embodying my invention as applied to a fence fabric, but it will be understood that it is equally applicable to any analogous wire fabric having intersecting members crossing shown in Fig. 4, all parts of the lock being within the contour of a square of which the diameters are equal to the combined lengths of the oppositely-extending arms of the lock, said arms being radially disposed and being of a number which is double that of the fabric members which are to be connected. stance, in the construction illustrated, where the longitudinal and transverse members of a wire fabric are to be connected, the lock is provided with four arms 4, and integral with each arm is a laterally-extending ear or extension 5, said ears or extensions being respeotively parallel with the contiguous sides of the square forming the blank.

The ear or extension of each arm is ar ranged wholly on one side thereof for the reason, in the first place, that I desire to provide such a construction that the engagement or clasping of a wire bymeans of the car may be accomplished by a single operation of a folding-tool, such as pliers. To accomplish this folding, one jaw of the pliers is placed upon the rear or outer side of the ear and the otherjaw is placed upon the remote or outer side of the wire around which said ear is to be folded. Then by swinging the pliers around the wire as a center the ear will be folded until its free end occupies a position practically in contact with the face of the armwith which such ear is integral. The body portions of the arms 4 are tapered. toward their outer ends, and the ears 5 are also reduced slightly or tapered toward their outer ends, whereby an approximately V- shaped cut-away portion or notch is formed between the inner edge of each ear 5 and the contiguous side edge of the adjacent arm 4. This arranges one edge of each arm 4 approximately parallel and flush with the contiguous portion of the wire member which is to be incased thereby, while the ear 5, which For inprojects wholly from the opposite side of said arm, is of sufficient length to extend entirely around the wire member to dispose its extremity contiguous to the plane of the body portion of the'arm 4, integral with which it is formed. Thus when the lock is completed each portion of a wire member is engaged by an unbroken tubular clasping portion of the lock, said tubular portion being unbroken, except by the joint between the extremity of the ear 5 and the contiguous flush edge of the arm 4:. This provides for swinging a lockapplying tool, such as a pair of pliers, entirely around the wire member as a center in coiling the ear 5 around said wire member. It will be seen, furthermore, that the ears or extensions which are formed at the extremities of the alined or diametrically opposite arms extend in opposite directions, and hence when said ears are folded around the wire parallel with which said alined diametrically opposite arms are arranged the open side of one clasp is at the opposite side of the wire from the open side of the other clasp, whereby one clasp serves to reinforce the other in preventing the relative displacement of the fabric members. Furthermore, it will be seen that while the arms of the lock are in contact with the fabric members at one side the'ears extend continuously across said members at the opposite side, and hence displacement of the strands or members in opposite transverse directions is prevented.

It is well known that with fence-locks of this class wherein the arms are made of such a width as to infold a fabric member and are pinched around the same upon opposite sides the seam or joint will lie on the faces of the members,whereby a directly transverse strain applied in opposite directions to members contiguous to their point of intersections will tend to strain the clasps and force them open, therebyreleasingthemembers. HenceIhave devised a lock wherein the infolding or clasping ears extend in only one direction from an arm, whereby in folding the car it is carried beyond the center and terminates contiguous to and preferably in contact with the surface of the arm. This disposes the seams or joints at the sides of the fabric members contiguous to the plane of the body portion of the plate, and by also taking the precaution to extend said ears or infolding-clasps in a common direotion from all of the arms or in opposite directions from the alined diametrically opposite arms the seams or joints of those clasps which engage a common fabric member are located in relatively opposite positions.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with intersecting members of awire fabric, a lock having radial tubular exteriorly-unobstructed members engaging a wire member contiguous to the point of intersection, each tubular member having a radial joint arranged in the plane of the body portion of the lock and adapted to be closed by a pinching-tool swung around each tubular member as a center, substantially as specified.

2. In combination with the intersecting members of a wire fabric, a lock, struck from sheet metal and having radial arms, each of which is provided at one edge witha laterallyprojecting ear, between the inner edge of which and the adjacent edge of the next arm the blankis cutaway to form a notch, whereby when the ears are rolled around the fabric members, the extremity of each ear is located in contact with the opposite edge of the arm integral with which said ear is formed, substantially as specified.

3. The herein-described lock for securing the intersecting members of a wire fabric, the same being struck from a single blank of sheet metal, of which the exterior contour is rectangular, and which consists of a plurality of radial outwardly-tapered flat arms, each of which is provided at one edge with a laterally-extending ear 5, separated at its inner edge from the adjacent edge of the next arm by a V-shaped notch, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEON w. GREENE.

Witnesses:

EDWIN J. ERWIN, WILLIAM C. PALMER. 

